The present invention relates to a far-side airbag apparatus that deploys and inflates an airbag toward the center of a passenger compartment.
A far-side airbag apparatus, which deploys and inflates an airbag toward the center of a passenger compartment, is typically located in a vehicle seat used as the driver's seat or the front passenger seat. The far-side airbag apparatus deploys and inflates an airbag toward the center of the passenger compartment to partition the driver's seat and the front passenger seat from each other, thereby protecting an occupant.
As one such far-side airbag apparatus, a far-side airbag apparatus is known that includes a tension belt connected to the distal end of an airbag. The tension belt is configured to apply tension to a deployed and inflated airbag to maintain the attitude of the airbag (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-137458).
The tension belt, which is connected to the distal end of the airbag, remains slack until deployment and inflation of the airbag is substantially completed. Thus, in a far-side airbag apparatus having a tension belt connected to the distal end of the airbag, the tension belt does not start controlling the attitude of the airbag until the deployment and inflation of the airbag is substantially completed.